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Re: Mort says we are parting ways with Peyton

If Manning were coming back then I think we would have at least had a decent chance of keeping Wayne and Garcon, particularly Wayne.

Why? Garcon looks like the guy who was waiting on the PM decision. Do you think Wayne wants less money than what Garcon asked for. My guess is no... he would take less years but remmeber Wayne knows that the colts gave Harrrison a fat contract when he was a similar age.

Wayne isn't giving the Colts a discount IMO because of Manning. If anything he feels like he has deserved a contract extension for the last 2 years and got screwed by management.

The only way I see this team able to keep both is if they cut Freeney and that still goes back to the argument that this team isn't the same team that won in 2009 or 2010.

Re: Mort says we are parting ways with Peyton

Re: Mort says we are parting ways with Peyton

I told my professor I was going to miss his class today to watch the press conference. He agreed on the condition I write about it. Here's what I've got:

It happens. Iconic athletes inevitably move on. Michael Jordan finished his career in Washington; Ray Bourque left Boston for Colorado – finally winning that elusive Stanley Cup; Joe Montana retired a Kansas City Chief. There is nothing unique about the decision by the Indianapolis Colts to release Peyton Manning Wednesday. It makes sense– from both Jim Irsay and Peyton Manning’s perspective. So when Manning and Irsay stood in front of that familiar Colts backdrop on West 56th street they weren’t exactly breaking new ground. They were merely finalizing the inevitable end we all had been slowly coming to grips with. To say the press conference was akin to a beloved pet being put down would be inappropriate – it was much more like losing your 87-year-old grandfather.

At noon Wednesday the entire country stopped to watch it all – officially - come to an end. CNN and Fox News both carried the press conference live. And while the collective hearts of an entire city were being gently plucked from their chests, the rest of the country saw what those in Indianapolis had the privilege of knowing for years. If you had never seen or heard anything about Peyton Manning, you would’ve learned all you needed to know watching that press conference. He started by trying to keep it all in perspective – sending his thoughts to the victims of the tornados that ripped through Indiana, and other parts of the Midwest. The most choked up Manning got was when he talked about his relationship with the Colts’ equipment guys. Peyton summed it up best, in that boyish southern drawl of his: “It sure has been an honor being quarterback of the city of Indianapolis these last 14 years”.
The national media will undoubtedly spend the day discussing the impact of Manning’s presence on the Colts over his career here – taking a perennial loser to perennial Super Bowl contender status. They’ll talk about what it all means for the Colts going forward, about what big shoes Andrew Luck must fill, and finally they’ll move on to the ‘big’ story. Where will Peyton sign? ESPN will send it’s usual army of reporters to follow every mind numbingly minute turn the story takes – or could take. Rachel Nichols is probably already reporting live from Manning’s driveway.
While this discussion is all relevant and expected, given the scope of Manning’s impact on an entire city, it will all feel shortsighted and beside the point. Peyton Manning didn’t just take a 3-13 team and turn it into one of the league’s most dominant teams of the last decade. He took a basketball town and turned it into a football city. In a state that Oscar Robertson and John Wooden called home, Peyton Manning managed to be transcendent in a way Hoosiers had never experienced. In 1998 – Manning’s first year with the Colts – Indianapolis had only been home to an NFL franchise for a little over a decade. Generation-s of Colts fans did not exist. Playoff appearances were practically unheard of, and for the most part the city remained content in its familiar role as the basketball capital of the world. Peyton Manning has been quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts for just under half of their existence (lining up under center 48.6% of their time in Indy). It’s hard to quantify just how much he’s meant for the city. One could point to the colossal brick monument to football he built by hand (and that’s not entirely hyperbole), or to the almost unfeasible feat and civic pinnacle that was Super Bowl 46. But perhaps Peyton’s impact on the city of Indianapolis is best displayed by simply driving around town. EVERYTHING is plastered with Colts regalia – horseshoes painted on windows of buildings, Colts flags hanging in place of American flags outside houses and from the windows of cars, bumper stickers, hell there’s even a building painted Colts blue downtown. This basketball hotbed has been turned into a strange football heaven. Turn on a Pacers game any given night and count the number of Colts jerseys in the crowd – on some nights they outnumber Pacers jerseys. And they’re not all #18 jerseys either – perhaps the most striking statement about Peyton’s impact on the transformation of the city. People don’t just care about Manning; they care about the entire team, they care about football.

There’s no getting around it - Wednesday is the darkest of days for Colts fans. That an entire city is in mourning is a testament to just how much Peyton Manning has meant. There are silver linings to every story – the Colts possess the number one pick in the upcoming draft and stand poised to pick Andrew Luck (I mean, a guy named Luck will be donning a horseshoe on his helmet. It doesn’t get more fitting than that). But today isn’t about silver linings, or looking forward. It’s about reflecting on what has been. It’s about getting teary-eyed watching it all come to an end. It’s about embracing the feelings of loss and sadness. Like Peyton said, it’s about putting things into context. We are only feeling these feelings today because of Peyton Manning. It’s kind of like that age-old hypothetical about whether you would have rather loved and lost or never loved at all. The great thing about this version is we don’t lose anything. Sure, we can’t watch Peyton don the horseshoe every Sunday, but just look at what we’ve gained – a passion for football. When Andrew Luck takes the field next season, Indianapolis will be tuned in because we care about football, and we care about the Colts. Peyton Manning made us care

Re: Mort says we are parting ways with Peyton

I told my professor I was going to miss his class today to watch the press conference. He agreed on the condition I write about it. Here's what I've got:

It happens. Iconic athletes inevitably move on. Michael Jordan finished his career in Washington; Ray Bourque left Boston for Colorado – finally winning that elusive Stanley Cup; Joe Montana retired a Kansas City Chief. There is nothing unique about the decision by the Indianapolis Colts to release Peyton Manning Wednesday. It makes sense– from both Jim Irsay and Peyton Manning’s perspective. So when Manning and Irsay stood in front of that familiar Colts backdrop on West 56th street they weren’t exactly breaking new ground. They were merely finalizing the inevitable end we all had been slowly coming to grips with. To say the press conference was akin to a beloved pet being put down would be inappropriate – it was much more like losing your 87-year-old grandfather.

At noon Wednesday the entire country stopped to watch it all – officially - come to an end. CNN and Fox News both carried the press conference live. And while the collective hearts of an entire city were being gently plucked from their chests, the rest of the country saw what those in Indianapolis had the privilege of knowing for years. If you had never seen or heard anything about Peyton Manning, you would’ve learned all you needed to know watching that press conference. He started by trying to keep it all in perspective – sending his thoughts to the victims of the tornados that ripped through Indiana, and other parts of the Midwest. The most choked up Manning got was when he talked about his relationship with the Colts’ equipment guys. Peyton summed it up best, in that boyish southern drawl of his: “It sure has been an honor being quarterback of the city of Indianapolis these last 14 years”.
The national media will undoubtedly spend the day discussing the impact of Manning’s presence on the Colts over his career here – taking a perennial loser to perennial Super Bowl contender status. They’ll talk about what it all means for the Colts going forward, about what big shoes Andrew Luck must fill, and finally they’ll move on to the ‘big’ story. Where will Peyton sign? ESPN will send it’s usual army of reporters to follow every mind numbingly minute turn the story takes – or could take. Rachel Nichols is probably already reporting live from Manning’s driveway.
While this discussion is all relevant and expected, given the scope of Manning’s impact on an entire city, it will all feel shortsighted and beside the point. Peyton Manning didn’t just take a 3-13 team and turn it into one of the league’s most dominant teams of the last decade. He took a basketball town and turned it into a football city. In a state that Oscar Robertson and John Wooden called home, Peyton Manning managed to be transcendent in a way Hoosiers had never experienced. In 1998 – Manning’s first year with the Colts – Indianapolis had only been home to an NFL franchise for a little over a decade. Generation-s of Colts fans did not exist. Playoff appearances were practically unheard of, and for the most part the city remained content in its familiar role as the basketball capital of the world. Peyton Manning has been quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts for just under half of their existence (lining up under center 48.6% of their time in Indy). It’s hard to quantify just how much he’s meant for the city. One could point to the colossal brick monument to football he built by hand (and that’s not entirely hyperbole), or to the almost unfeasible feat and civic pinnacle that was Super Bowl 46. But perhaps Peyton’s impact on the city of Indianapolis is best displayed by simply driving around town. EVERYTHING is plastered with Colts regalia – horseshoes painted on windows of buildings, Colts flags hanging in place of American flags outside houses and from the windows of cars, bumper stickers, hell there’s even a building painted Colts blue downtown. This basketball hotbed has been turned into a strange football heaven. Turn on a Pacers game any given night and count the number of Colts jerseys in the crowd – on some nights they outnumber Pacers jerseys. And they’re not all #18 jerseys either – perhaps the most striking statement about Peyton’s impact on the transformation of the city. People don’t just care about Manning; they care about the entire team, they care about football.

There’s no getting around it - Wednesday is the darkest of days for Colts fans. That an entire city is in mourning is a testament to just how much Peyton Manning has meant. There are silver linings to every story – the Colts possess the number one pick in the upcoming draft and stand poised to pick Andrew Luck (I mean, a guy named Luck will be donning a horseshoe on his helmet. It doesn’t get more fitting than that). But today isn’t about silver linings, or looking forward. It’s about reflecting on what has been. It’s about getting teary-eyed watching it all come to an end. It’s about embracing the feelings of loss and sadness. Like Peyton said, it’s about putting things into context. We are only feeling these feelings today because of Peyton Manning. It’s kind of like that age-old hypothetical about whether you would have rather loved and lost or never loved at all. The great thing about this version is we don’t lose anything. Sure, we can’t watch Peyton don the horseshoe every Sunday, but just look at what we’ve gained – a passion for football. When Andrew Luck takes the field next season, Indianapolis will be tuned in because we care about football, and we care about the Colts. Peyton Manning made us care

Well that is a very nice write up, better than what Kravitz came up with. Kudos to you.